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Convent row firm to build homes on site

Illegal demolition no bar as company wins go-ahead

A developer who was fined just 1,000 after he illegally demolished an historic convent has been granted planning permission to build 32 houses and 15 apartments on the site.

Dublin city council was heavily criticised last year when it failed to get Kimpton Vale, a Dublin company, to reinstate the Presentation convent in Terenure after it was razed at 7am on a Saturday in November 2006. After igoring several orders to rebuild the 1860s convent, Kimpton Vale was eventually prosecuted by the council last September.

Laurence Keegan, the owner of the company, pleaded guilty in Dublin disctrict court to demolishing the structure without consent and was fined 1,000, the maximum. The fine was described as "ludicrous" by locals and conservationists.

Mary Upton, a local Labour TD, said allowing the firm to build on the site was a further "kick in the teeth" for locals. "I'm amazed. When it was demolished,